Monthly Archives: March 2013

Congratulations to Major Gary Ivey, Major Warren Armstrong (currently deployed) and Dr. Heather McCuaig Edge on receiving the Commander Canadian Army Commendation. Their contributions to enhance the Human Dimensions of Operations project in support to the Army’s operational readiness are highly commendable. Lieutenant-General P.J. Devlin personally presented the Command Commendation scrolls at a later date.

Here is a photo taken on 22 Mar 13 with myself and the members of the
RCAF who are deployed with the USAF 438 Air Expeditionary Wing. 438 AEW
is the core on which the NATO Air Training Mission – Afghanistan is
built within the NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan.

BGen Tom Putt, DComd 5 US Corps (centre) and his EA, Major Jeff Wilson,
Royal Canadian Artillery, serve at the International Joint Command (IJC)
NATO, which is the war fighting HQ co-located here at Kabul
International Airport – North (KAIA-N). BGen Putt and Maj Wilson are on
exchange with 5 US Corps for a year. Our two organizations are located
within the KAIA-N region, however the 438 AEW HQ itself is located
within the Afghan Air Force Headquarters compound itself. Our locations
are public knowledge and in the public domain so no opsec violation with
this info.

I am serving in an RCAF hard PSel position and one of only two Army
officers within the RCAF contingent. My desk is located within the J7
Training offices. My role is as the Afghan Air Force (AAF) Establishment
Desk officer and I advise the AAF Establishment Officer, Col Eidi
Mohammed on the organization of the AAF. I am leading a 33 day review –
similar to an AMOR process – whereby an entirely reorganized
establishment will be issued for 1 May 2013 based on the 2015 Aircraft
and Aircrew bed down plan. In other words, an Army guy is getting to
advise on reorganizing the entire Afghan Air Force from the ground up. I
assure you this is a pretty neat experience – one of those “once in a
lifetime” moments. The work I did with Branch Transformation certainly
well prepared me for my present job.
The personal photo was taken outside of the 438 AEW unit crest in early
Feb. Just another day heading into the office. The snow makes you feel
at home. This is our standard dress for our walk into our offices
located within the AAF compound and is how I am required to be dressed
when advising for 2-3 hours per day. If you were to turn to my left, the
last photo is the scene I walk towards every day – just beautiful. Our
headquarters is called Fortress OQAB, which is Dari for Eagle. At our
HQ, on 27 April, 2011 we received the worst green on blue incident
whereby 9 USAF personnel were killed by an Afghan Air Force Colonel. I
pass a Memorial Wall every day within my HQ dedicated to these members
who were here before me who are referred to as the NATC-A 9. The insider
threat where I work is very real, hence the Canadian SOP that we advise
in full fighting order at all times.